Dogs make the best wingmen
by The Forgotten Nobody
Summary: "Scamp! I swear to God, you get here now or I will, Scamp, no, bad dog!" Scamp had quickly progressed from running amok to assaulting strangers. He'd just leapt upon an unsuspecting jogger, nearly sending the innocent man careening to the floor. Oh crap, he was going to be pissed that Stiles couldn't control his dog, except it wasn't his dog; it was his ex-best friend's dog.


Stiles was never dog-sitting for Scott again. His best-friend might have a magic touch with animals but Stiles had the opposite – he was an animal repellent, proven by the fact that the walk he was trying to take Scamp on had become the walk Scamp was taking _him_ on.

Stiles hadn't minded Scamp too much when he'd been a puppy but now at 90 pounds this husky was nearly at Stiles' waist and using his bulk to his advantage in order to pull himself out of Stiles' grip. Of course, Scott didn't even need a leash when he took Scamp for walks, no, for his beloved owner he actually _behaved._ Maybe he should have invested in a saddle.

"C'mon Scamp, don't do this to me. Scott's gonna kill me if I lose you and you loved Scott don't you? You love that stupid, puppy-eyed guilt tripper who is- oh shit, Scamp, get back here!"

The inevitable had happened. Scamp had managed to rip his leash from Stiles and was now on the run. All Stiles could think was thank god this had happened while they were in the park not near any busy street.

"Scamp! I swear to God, you get here now or I will, Scamp, no, bad dog!"

Scamp had quickly progressed from running amok to assaulting strangers. He'd just leapt upon an unsuspecting jogger, nearly sending the innocent man careening to the floor. Oh crap, he was going to be pissed that Stiles couldn't control his dog, except it wasn't his dog; it was his ex-best friend's dog.

"Oh man, I am so sorry, I didn't mean for him to-" Stiles had expected anger, annoyance, even possibly fright. He had not expected the jogger Scamp had accosted to be stroking the dog and talking to him.

"Hey there buddy; looks like you shouldn't have been out on your own." The guy looked up and Stiles was momentarily stunned at how good looking the jogger was. He supposed out of all the people Scamp could have jumped on, he picked well. "I'm guessing this guy is yours?"

"Um, yeah, sorry, uh, hi." It's not often that Stiles gets speechless so it was a credit to the guy that Stiles' tongue was officially tied in a nice little knot.

"It's no problem. Here." The stranger passed Stiles the leash back and as if on cue, Scamp proceeded once again to tug himself away from Stiles, back into the arms of the apparent dog whisperer.

"Ah jeez, I'm sorry," Stiles apologised, glaring at Scamp. "Scamp, come on, we need to get back." Scamp happily ignored him, choosing instead to lick the stranger's cheek. It was not at all cool that dog was getting more action than he was.

"He doesn't like you much, does he?" The guy smiled and Stiles rolled his eyes.

"You have no idea. He's my best friend's dog. I'm dog-sitting for him, something which I'm really regretting agreeing to." The jogger laughed.

"Maybe since he seems to like me, I could walk back with you, make sure he doesn't get into any more trouble? If that wouldn't be too weird I mean."

Though Stiles was mentally screaming 'YES!' he instead said, "You don't have to do that, I mean, I've already interrupted your jog."

The guy shrugged. "I was nearly finished anyway and I don't think I could hand the leash back over again in good conscious."

Well, Stiles wasn't about to argue again. "Um, ok, thanks. I'm Stiles Stilinski by the way."

"Derek Hale." They shook hands and Stiles barely managed to not pull himself into those muscled arms. It was as they began their route back home it dawned on Stiles why Derek's name had rung a bell.

"Wait, Hale as in Hale's Hounds? The rescue place for dogs?"

"Not just dogs, my sister just thought the alliteration worked better." Derek replied.

"No wonder he likes you then, if you work with dogs!"

Derek just shrugged, smiling slightly. "So, you said this guy's name is Scamp?"

"Yeah, it may sound cute and adorable but it's appropriate."

"I'm sure he's not so bad, isn't that right Scamp?" Derek scratched behind Scamp's ear which the dog loved and Stiles had to stop himself from pouting. Not only was Scamp a menace but he was getting all the attention!

"You don't have to look after him," Stiles said sullenly and to add to his annoyance, Derek grinned at him.

"You're really not a dog person, are you?"

"That obvious?"

"Well, maybe I could give you a few pointers?" It might have been Stiles' imagination but did Derek sound…shy?

"Uh, you could try but I think dogs just don't like me. Maybe it's in my genes, I've got anti-dog DNA."

Derek laughed again causing pride to flutter in Stiles' chest. "I'm sure you don't," Derek said. "I think Scamp can just sense your dislike of him, that's why he was trying to get away."

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "You think he can actually sense that?"

"Dogs are smarter and more intuitive than you think. Why don't you let me have a go? How long are you looking after him for?"

"A week." And it was only the first day. Perhaps it would be worth letting Derek try, especially if it meant Stiles got to spend more time with him. "I think I might need all the help I can get."

"Ok then, could I come over a bit later then? Once I've changed out these clothes." Derek said and Stiles realised he'd stopped outside his house.

"Yeah, that would be great. Will you remember how to get here?"

"I don't live too far away, I'm sure I'll manage."

And Derek did come back a half an hour later, clothes changed and if Stiles was correct, wearing cologne (which was not helping Stiles convince himself this wasn't a date). They spent that morning with Derek teaching Stiles how to handle Scamp which somehow involved a lot of Derek taking Stiles hand, showing him where to stroke Scamp and how to issue commands. Stiles was sure that there was a lot more contact than necessary but he was not complaining, especially with the glances they screamed which screamed sexual tension. There was, however, the extreme possibility that this was all in Stiles' hopeful mind.

Derek ended up staying for lunch but then much to his (and probably Scamp's) disappointment he had to leave for his shift at work.

"If you want, I could come again tomorrow, around the same time if you're free?" Derek asked in the doorway, the shy smile back once more.

Stiles thought about the book he should be writing and decided that time with Derek was far more important (though his editor might disagree). "That'll be totally fine with me!" He replied, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

"Great, um." Much to Stiles' amazement, right before Derek left he darted forward and placed a light kiss against Stiles' lips which left him tingling and relieved that he had not been imagining anything between them. "See you tomorrow Stiles," Derek said, a flush rising and he headed out.

"I…yeah, see you tomorrow," Stiles replied dazedly. He shut the door on Derek's retreating figure and turned to Scamp who was looking incredibly pleased with himself.

"Scott put you up to this, didn't he? He told you to find me a boyfriend."

Scamp barked and wagged his tail which Stiles took as an agreement, causing him to burst out laughing. He suddenly felt a lot more affection for the mutt than he ever had before.

"Well buddy, you made a pretty good wingman."


End file.
